French sand to revive Lyme Regis beaches

With its stone Cobb beloved of artists and writers and its fossil-rich cliffs, Lyme Regis has the air of a quintessential English resort. But from now on there will always be a bit of France, not to mention a chunk of Norway, in the Dorset town.

To the surprise of some visitors and locals, sand to replenish the beach as part of coastal improvements has been shipped from France. And huge rocks, which will help protect the shore, have been brought in from Norway. Even the shingle is coming from the Isle of Wight.

Those in charge of the project say it just wasn't possible to get the right sort of sand or rock in the UK. Nick Browning, project manager, said: "We needed a grain of a certain particle size to stop it from being washed away. It also has to be the right colour."

As for the rock, stone from Portland, just up the coast, may have been good enough for St Paul's Cathedral, but it did not suit the engineers in Lyme Regis. It was judged too soft for coastal protection work. Instead, they opted for Larvikite stone from Norway, which they say should last three times as long as the local equivalent.

The other advantage is the materials can be shipped straight in by sea, a cheaper option than moving them by lorry to a port down the coast and then into the resort. Bringing in the foreign sand and rock is part of a multimillion-pound scheme to shore up the resort and prevent parts of it from falling into the sea.

Derek Thompson, who owns the By the Bay restaurant, said: "It is odd that there was nowhere else for the sand and rocks to come from - Lyme Regis will soon be a truly international place to visit."

The main beach is expected to reopen by the summer and the powers that be are confident the French sand will pass the crucial test - by all accounts it makes excellent sandcastles.